Halloween

Claire was lucky enough to have two different costumes this year. She was Sleeping Beauty for her school party, then transformed into a pink kitty for trick or treating.

C's school has a Halloween parade around the gym so everybody can see everyone else's costume. Last year, C wanted nothing to do with dressing up, and seeing some of the other teachers dressed up scared her. This year was different. She thought for weeks about which costume she should wear, finally deciding on Sleeping Beauty. She was so excited the morning of the parade and could not wait to get to school. Madeleine and I arrived just in time to get a front-row spot just as the parade started. And, to C's surprise, Daddy showed up right as she was walking in front of us! After the parade, the kids headed back to their classrooms for a pizza party and cupcakes. Even Madeleine joined in to eat, but all the costumes kept her firmly seated in her stroller.



Next up was the night C had been waiting for - time to trick or treat! She watched out the front window for most of the afternoon, looking for any early birds. Finally, it was time to head out. The girls put on their costumes - C as a pink kitty, M as a black one - and away we went. We only did our street, but C had a great time. She's already planning what she wants to be next year - a Super Kitty, whatever that means.

Day Trip to Fredericksburg

We checked off another item from our Texas Bucket List with a day trip out to Fredericksburg with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jamey, and Uncle Jeff. We played at a playground, did some shopping, ate at the brewery, then finished off the day at the Becker winery.

4-Year Stats

Claire had her dreaded 4-year check a couple of weeks ago. All I can say is, thank goodness she doesn't have to get another shot until she's 11. She knew going into it that she'd have to wear special headphones and listen to sounds, look at a poster and tell the shapes she sees, and get shots. And she was very brave going in to it. But before the exam could even begin, things started going downhill. The nurse made her do what any pink-loving 4-year old girl would dread the most--take off the beautiful pink pants, and put on horrible, blue, way-too-big paper shorts. She finally was bribed into putting them on with the promise of a princess sticker, and she did perfectly with her hearing and vision screen. (As I suspected--the child can hear a whisper on the other side of the house. Especially when it has to do with ice cream or chocolate.) And the exam from the doctor went equally as perfectly. Here are her stats:

Weight: Gained 3.5 pounds since last year, which puts her at 29 lbs, 12 oz: 9th%
Height: Grew 3.25 inches since last year, which puts her at 39.5 inches: 44th%
Body Fat: TWO percent. Lucky thing.

And then the nurse came back.....The first item was the flumist, which wasn't awful, but I think it surprised her. No tears, just a bit of shock. Then we moved her to the table, and I held onto her hands and leaned over her chest. Evidently I was also in charge of holding down her legs, which I didn't know until the first shot went in, and Claire kicked. So the needle tore her leg. It wasn't like a huge gaping tear or anything, but it was definite slice. Poor, poor thing. She wailed. And then wailed some more with the next 2 shots. She calmed herself down quickly enough to be able to leave the office with decency, but then she whimpered the whole way home. She spent most of the rest of the day in our bed watching tv because her leg hurt so much.

She's all better now, thank goodness, but ever since that day, she's been obsessed with booboos and bandaids. Every little bump needs a bandaid, and we're constantly shopping for another box of them. I'm really hoping the phase is over soon.

Madeleine is Ten Months Old!

What a special day for Miss Magoodle--it's 10/10/10, and she's turning 10 months old! She's had quite a month for herself, working hard on communication and mobility.

Little Miss Chunky Thighs is wearing size 9-month shirts and 12-month pants. She's still in a size 3 diaper.

Her hair is really starting to grow, so bows are becoming a wardrobe necessity. Too bad she doesn't think so--she just pulls them out and sticks them in her mouth most of the time.

We're also starting to get her used to shoes, which she isn't very fond of, either.

Moo waves all the time--especially to Big Sister--while she's eating. She takes a bite of food, then lifts up her right arm and waves while she chews. She's also clapping! This just started about a week ago, and she loves the attention it brings her. She has remarkable timing as well, and seems to know exactly when to start the applause.

Mooskie has graduated to professional crawler. She can really move--fast. Her balance is also becoming much better, so now she lets go of whatever it is she's pulled up on. She's still too wary to try taking a step, but she has no problem pushing toys and light pieces of furniture around and walking behind them.

We've also discovered another allergy....eggplant! She broke out in splotches again, but they weren't nearly as bad as the egg reaction.

We've been working on drinking out of a sippy, but aren't having much success. We've tried around 5 different types of cups, and wouldn't you know, the cheapest kind is the one that's giving her the most luck. I think it's because it leaks so she doesn't really have to try hard to get any water out of it.

Happy 10-month birthday, Miss Moodle!